Water collection is increasingly challenging as water tables in many geographical areas are dropping or exhausted. Consequently, reaching water tables via conventional drilled wells is expensive and often fruitless. As a result, many have turned to rainwater or greywater harvesting, which involves the collection and storage of rainwater for a variety of domestic, urban, and commercial uses, including, for example, drinking water and irrigation. Such harvesting allows individuals to obtain an independent water supply for their own domestic uses, particularly during droughts or periods of regional water use restrictions.
The challenges of water collection are often exacerbated by the climate. For example, many climates where the need for alternative water sources is great receive little rainfall throughout the year, such that maintaining an independent water supply is expensive or otherwise impractical. Instead, snowfall is the primary form of precipitation in many of these climates. However, harvesting water from snow is generally challenging and inefficient because a substantial amount of the water is lost directly to the atmosphere via sublimation and/or evaporation, significantly reducing the yield.
It is with these and other issues in mind that various aspects of the presently disclosed technology were developed.